Parents,

I apologize for the length of this...I got carried away :)

This Sunday we had a full out debate between three groups (hypothetically of course...though interestingly many found themselves condemning their own lifestyle!!!). The three groups were:

     1) Christians who believe that while sin is forgiven, it still has consequences

     2) Christians who believe that once forgiven - always forgiven...so why not sin?

     3) Non-christians who don't believe in sin or its effects

It was interesting to see them engage with one another, but in the end, I had to award (to my dismay) a bag of candy to group three, because despite all attempts, they remained unscathed. Now, that's a bit unfair, like pairing goliath against a young boy (oh wait, maybe that's a bad example? sarcasm)...to award the team who in a sense believes in nothing, but what does that say about us?

I think it shows two key things:

     1) that it's fairly easy (in fact too easy!!) for students to play a relativistic devil's advocate because let's face it, it's a pretty common agenda and lifestyle...especially in the larger public liberal schools.

     2) It also demonstrates our low view of critical thinking. It's pretty common for students to self-reflect before they self-examine. They see something they like and they put it on; metaphorically or literally. If they don't like something, they take it off and discard it...much like last years clothes (fyi - the new thing in HS is mismatched socks...I know, I don't get it either).

Let's take a look at the different groups. The scenario was this: one student catches another student cheating on a test and confronts them in the hall after class.

GROUP 3: was definitely the easiest. It's easy to play the part of the relativist because it doesn't require much critical thinking. If morality doesn't exist, then God (whether he exists or not - in whatever form) cannot hold it against me...thus cheating is fine...more specifically it's not "good" or "bad" - it just is what it is...and as one student said "it's a clever use of my resources."

GROUP 2: was slightly harder. The common thread in their argument was that once I'm forgiven I'm always forgiven...and here's the kicker...it DOESN'T MATTER if I shouldn't continue to sin (Romans 6:1) because I'm forever forgiven. So why change? In this view we engage the world under the false presupposition that sin, whether forgiven or not, still has no consequences...or if it does, we choose to live with them because I have eternity in heaven all stored up!!! This has such a low view of sin that it unwittingly espouses an extremely cheap view of grace. What then was the purpose of Christ's sacrifice? Did he intend for us to live life this way? To quote Paul "may it never be!" I always tell our students, "you can never understand the depth of God's grace until you understand the depth of your own sin." Of course this ongoing as us adults know. However, to allow students to see sin as "shallow" will reap long term fruit.

GROUP 1: had the most difficult job. Their responses to other groups seemed to convey a great sense of confusion. To be sure this is common, as we cannot expect the unspiritual to understand the spiritual (1 Cor. 2:11-13). I think most students felt that they could "win" over another if they simply shared the right words. Teaching students to engage any material, capture every thought, and to weigh it against the Truth of Scripture is a mighty task...especially if it requires more effort. Why would a student want to take the harder road, especially if what it teaches is that I have sacrifice the "fun" stuff of the world? But believe it or not this is what we are asking of students!!!

But don't lose hope parents! God is faithful and sovereign in all things. In fact I just heard another story from a mom who's daughter has turned a significant corner after years and years of tears, pain, "f" bombs, etc. You cannot make your son or daughter choose right over wrong (though we may sometimes try to force or manipulate it). All you can do is open doors for relevant conversation, and with heavy doses of daily, sometimes hourly prayer, with the hopes that students take steps themselves towards the Truth.

Our conversation on Sunday ended with the idea of how we ask for forgiveness. I think that we, all too commonly, offer our sin to God like they were little black balls. Once they pop up, we hand them over, ask "please forgive me" (more as a statement than a question) and we move on. But there is a fundamental flaw. We presuppose (sometimes errantly and sometimes correctly) that God forgives my sin. Wait, what? Let me explain: If I say "God please forgive me?" he might say "ok" or he might say "which one?" Let's think of it this way. What is the purpose of forgiveness? It's purpose is to restore a relationship. But if we examine how we ask for forgiveness, our motives become alarmingly visual. We don't often ask for God's forgiveness to be restored, and to change our lifestyles. Rather, we ask for forgiveness because we don't like feeling guilty. If I ask for forgiveness with the presupposition that God forgives all sin (1 John 1:9) and the false-purpose being to "not feel guilty" then I have in fact cheapened God's forgiveness. I've reduced planet earth to the size of pea. Where is the forgiveness in this? Again, I feel like God would say "which sin are you referring to?" and further, "do you really want to be changed?" Dietrech Bonhoeffer defined this forgiveness as cheap grace. We ask God to justify our sin, without justifying the sinner. In essence, we want to feel as if we can continue to live a guilt free life while sinning all we want. Is this Biblical? No! Romans 6:1, "if we have died to sin how then can we live in it any longer?"

So questions for you this week to engage your sons and daughter:

1. do you think that sin has effects?

2. is more forgiveness necessary if we're already forgiven?

3. what do you think your motives are when you ask for forgiveness?

Hope this helps!

seth